At last Apostolides raised his head to ask or to warn "You teach the right way."
"I hope I did. As I said, I've retired from teaching, like my wife."
"Are you looking for a new life now?"
Before he could hold back Ray said "Coming here seems to have given her one."
"Would you say?" Julian said. "I haven't noticed any difference since we saw you at Christmas."
"Mr Banks," Apostolides said, for which Ray was painfully grateful.
Where Ray had answered all the questions as amiably as he could manage, Julian was curter. Perhaps Apostolides was growing more deliberate by contrast if not as a reprimand. At last the form was filled in and examined, which apparently required a punch line. "You think everything should be insured."
"I think it's wise to keep yourself as safe as possible."
"That is your safety." Apostolides was aligning the forms on his desk with the hairy edges of his hands, and his eyes didn't signify how much of a question he'd intended. He lifted his head but not his gaze as he said "Now we shall talk about why you were sent for?"
"I don't know what more we can be expected to contribute," Julian said.
"You are here for examination." Once his eyes had made this plain Apostolides turned them on Ray. "Tell me why you were there," he said.
"On that beach? My wife liked the look."
"The look," Apostolides said and intensified his own.
"Yes, of the place. She thought it would be quieter than the other beaches. Well," Ray said with a sally at a laugh, "it was."
"How did she know it was there?"
The question seemed more searching than Ray understood, unless he was confusing it with the glare through the shutter. "The cruise around the island took us," he said.
"You say the boat went to the beach."
"Just past it," Ray said and had an odd sense of defending the boatman. "We didn't stop."
"Did nobody tell you about it?"
"What would there have been to tell?" When Apostolides let the question loiter Ray said "The guide didn't have anything to say about it, no."
"If I may interrupt," Julian said, "may we know what use this is? It's keeping us away from our families when we're supposed to be here on holiday."
"We are building up your picture." Apostolides didn't bother glancing at him. "How did you find the way?" he said.
Ray too had begun to feel the questions were excessively trivial. "My son figured it out," he said.
"This is not your son."
"I'm not," Julian said, "but may I ask why you think it's so obvious?"
Apostolides gave him a glance so terse it barely qualified as one. "Your name."
"That's what betrayed me, is it? Regrettably I've no control over that."
He sounded so bitter that Ray might have responded if Apostolides hadn't said "How did you go to the beach?"
"We took the bus," Ray said, "and then we went along the path with the carvings on the trees."
Apostolides raised his face an inch while holding Ray's gaze with his own, so that Ray wondered what he'd provoked until the policeman said "Well, so you are at the beach. Why did you go into the cave?"
"I was seeing whether it was safe for our grandson, that's Julian's son."
"The boy again. You thought it may be safe in there for him."
Ray felt unfairly criticised. "I should think Greek boys like exploring caves, don't they, even at his age?"
"Some they do."
"If you don't like people going down there," Julian objected, "perhaps you ought to put a warning on the path. And those things on the trees can't be much help. They're more liable to tempt people to see what's along there than keep them away."
"They were meant to guard the way." Apostolides was still watching Ray. "What did you see?" he said.
"In the cave? That poor man."
"That is all. A poor man."
"I'd say he was, yes." Having grasped that he was being prompted to say more, Ray said "He'd drowned and ended up lodged in the rocks, had he? Or did he have a heart attack because he'd trapped himself somehow? Have you established how he died?"
"You did not touch him."
Ray would have
"I hope I did. As I said, I've retired from teaching, like my wife."
"Are you looking for a new life now?"
Before he could hold back Ray said "Coming here seems to have given her one."
"Would you say?" Julian said. "I haven't noticed any difference since we saw you at Christmas."
"Mr Banks," Apostolides said, for which Ray was painfully grateful.
Where Ray had answered all the questions as amiably as he could manage, Julian was curter. Perhaps Apostolides was growing more deliberate by contrast if not as a reprimand. At last the form was filled in and examined, which apparently required a punch line. "You think everything should be insured."
"I think it's wise to keep yourself as safe as possible."
"That is your safety." Apostolides was aligning the forms on his desk with the hairy edges of his hands, and his eyes didn't signify how much of a question he'd intended. He lifted his head but not his gaze as he said "Now we shall talk about why you were sent for?"
"I don't know what more we can be expected to contribute," Julian said.
"You are here for examination." Once his eyes had made this plain Apostolides turned them on Ray. "Tell me why you were there," he said.
"On that beach? My wife liked the look."
"The look," Apostolides said and intensified his own.
"Yes, of the place. She thought it would be quieter than the other beaches. Well," Ray said with a sally at a laugh, "it was."
"How did she know it was there?"
The question seemed more searching than Ray understood, unless he was confusing it with the glare through the shutter. "The cruise around the island took us," he said.
"You say the boat went to the beach."
"Just past it," Ray said and had an odd sense of defending the boatman. "We didn't stop."
"Did nobody tell you about it?"
"What would there have been to tell?" When Apostolides let the question loiter Ray said "The guide didn't have anything to say about it, no."
"If I may interrupt," Julian said, "may we know what use this is? It's keeping us away from our families when we're supposed to be here on holiday."
"We are building up your picture." Apostolides didn't bother glancing at him. "How did you find the way?" he said.
Ray too had begun to feel the questions were excessively trivial. "My son figured it out," he said.
"This is not your son."
"I'm not," Julian said, "but may I ask why you think it's so obvious?"
Apostolides gave him a glance so terse it barely qualified as one. "Your name."
"That's what betrayed me, is it? Regrettably I've no control over that."
He sounded so bitter that Ray might have responded if Apostolides hadn't said "How did you go to the beach?"
"We took the bus," Ray said, "and then we went along the path with the carvings on the trees."
Apostolides raised his face an inch while holding Ray's gaze with his own, so that Ray wondered what he'd provoked until the policeman said "Well, so you are at the beach. Why did you go into the cave?"
"I was seeing whether it was safe for our grandson, that's Julian's son."
"The boy again. You thought it may be safe in there for him."
Ray felt unfairly criticised. "I should think Greek boys like exploring caves, don't they, even at his age?"
"Some they do."
"If you don't like people going down there," Julian objected, "perhaps you ought to put a warning on the path. And those things on the trees can't be much help. They're more liable to tempt people to see what's along there than keep them away."
"They were meant to guard the way." Apostolides was still watching Ray. "What did you see?" he said.
"In the cave? That poor man."
"That is all. A poor man."
"I'd say he was, yes." Having grasped that he was being prompted to say more, Ray said "He'd drowned and ended up lodged in the rocks, had he? Or did he have a heart attack because he'd trapped himself somehow? Have you established how he died?"
"You did not touch him."
Ray would have
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